Simon the Cowl

This great cowl pattern can be found right here and it was made with just one of these...

... an 8mm hook and a couple of buttons I salvaged from an old pair of boots!

'Simon' can be worn in many ways...

The buttons can be fastened anywhere...

Head over to Jennifer's blog to get the pattern and get cozy this winter!

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Forever Autumn

The Japanese Maple in our garden is shedding beautiful leaves - creating a colourful blanket on our patio.

I had to do something with these - such a shame to allow them to decay.

A tea light holder ... using the trusty jar

I used PVA glue to paste the leaves around the jar 

Once dry, I simply wrapped and tied some raffia around the neck of the jar

I've been wanting to use this raffia for sometime and the gold and bronze were perfect for this project

A simple autumn decoration; preserving the beauty of season and helping to add warmth to the home on these increasingly cooler evenings

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Cattle be the day

In the fields behind our home, Exmoor ponies Asprey, Ralph and Dixon have company...

One minute I was looking out at an empty field, the next there was a herd of Longhorn cattle!

At first they were a little camera shy ...

... but they soon learnt to strike a pose

There's plenty for them to munch on ...

And the trees didn't escape!

I guess we'll have to be extra careful where we tread from now on!

♫ So leave a peppermint stick for old Saint Nick ♫

Now I love Christmas, I love twine and I love hearts. So this project is perfect!

A rustic candy cane tree decoration...

The shops are already filling up with Christmas goodies, so it was easy to get my hands on some peppermint sticks

Using glue dots as I went along, I wrapped twine tightly around the stick, not even bothering to remove the wrappers

I formed the shape of a heart, using a glue dot to stick the top and some twine to tie together the bottom

Finally I made a bow from my Mollie Makes subscription gift ribbon and stuck it on with yet another glue dot (I am starting to love glue dots nearly as much as twine!)

I wonder if my husband will attempt to dismantle this when he needs a sugar fix?!



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Och aye the noo

Last week we spent a few days visiting the west coast of Scotland; home of my ancestors

A cruise along Loch Lomond, just 6 people onboard (it was lunchtime, so I guess everyone else was having a nice pub lunch!)

Thankfully the rain kept away, so we could enjoy being out at the front of the boat

Altogether now... ♫

Next a trip to Largs, home to The Pencil monument

Single ice-cream nougat courtesy of Nardini's at the Moorings...

... enjoyed whilst looking over to the island of Cumbrae, as the sun began to set

Over on Cumbrae, they like to make the most of the rocks.

Millports's Crocodile Rock, long before Elton John sang about it (!) ...

and an actual rock face at Bell Bay (if you shout at it, the echo is amazing!)

Finally, several (and I mean several) trips around the island to find the 5 posts which, if you touch all 5, are said to bring you good luck

... I still haven't won the lottery though...